Welcome -- I wrote about the essay here. He has a lot to say about both collecting books and Turkish identity, much of it collected in Other Colors; I think this essay brings these two themes together in a beautifully terse way. I'll take a look at that Anderson article, thanks for linking it.
Posted by Jeremy Osner at October 21, 2008 07:32 PMNot only is it thoughtful, but it's also informative. Sahaflar Çarşısı will be my first stop on the next trip to Istanbul.
Posted by bulbul at October 22, 2008 06:47 AMI went there when I visited Istanbul and got an excellent Turkish historical atlas.
Posted by language hat at October 22, 2008 07:31 AMDon't forget this companion piece by Perry Anderson.
Posted by Kári Tulinius at October 22, 2008 08:11 AMI really liked both the Perry Anderson articles, despite disagreeing with various details of both of them. They are really worth reading, if your exposure to Turkish history is as language-oriented (perhaps to the exclusion of too much) as is mine.
Posted by Aidan Kehoe at October 23, 2008 08:17 PMMurat Belge, who features in the second Anderson essay, is profiled in a short piece in The New York Times today. It's a somewhat weird piece.
Posted by Kári Tulinius at October 25, 2008 09:42 PM